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Do your vacation plans include a flight to some far away destination? Did you know that you can save on the cost of your flight by changing the airport that you fly into? I have learned to shop around for the best flight prices and then use a rental car to finish my trip. Having done this for many years, I have learned a lot that can help you make the same changes to your travel plans. Use the tips and advice found on my website to begin making the plans for your next vacation. Hopefully, you can save as much on your trip as I have.

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5 Reasons NOT To Warm Up Your Car During Winter

Most people warm up their car in the winter time before driving it. Aside from the obvious reason, making the car warm inside, many people claim it is better for the health of the engine. If you warm up your car every morning, do you know why you do it? Probably not. In fact, warming up your engine isn't necessary it all. Here are 5 reasons why you should NOT warm up your car before driving it.

Your car will warm up faster while you driving. It's not fun to get in a freezing car to drive to work. However, your car will warm up faster while you drive. Letting your car idle for a half hour won't warm it up as much as driving it for only 5-10 minutes. The reason cars need to be "warmed up" for the health of the engine is because the fluids should completely lubricate the engine before driving it. According to the EPA, that only takes 30 seconds. Any longer than 30 seconds is unnecessary.

You waste fuel. Another reason why some people idle their vehicle before driving it is to save on fuel costs. Cars get worse gas mileage in the winter time than they do in warmer weather. An experiment was done by Natural Resources Canada to see if warming up your car will actually save you gas. Three cars were driven the same length. One wasn't warmed up, one was warmed up for five minutes, and another was warmed up for 10. The results showed that the car that wasn't warmed up burned the least amount of gas. The car that was warmed up for five minutes burned 7-14% more fuel, while the car that was warmed up for 10 minutes burned 12-19% more.

You hurt the environment. Hybrid, electric, and even solar vehicles are built all the time to reduce CO2 emissions. Even if you don't have a "green" vehicle, you can still do your part by minimizing how much CO2 your car is producing. Eliminating 5 minutes of voluntary idling each day will have a huge impact on the environment. If every American cut 5 minutes off of their idling time they, as a whole, would save 3.8 million gallons of gas and 40,000 tons of CO2 each day. In one year that would add up to 1.4 billion gallons of gas and 13 million tons of CO2.

You risk car theft. It's obvious that letting your car run unattended can invite criminals to steal it. What you may not know however, is how common it is actually becoming. Indianapolis, Indiana had a particularly high volume of winter car thefts just this last 2014/2015 winter. In one day 11 cars were stolen while people warmed them up before going to work. One car was even stolen with a child inside of it. Luckily, the car thief brought the child back safely to her mother, unfortunately, he kept the car. Considering these facts show how unnecessary it is to warm up your vehicle in the winter time, it definitely isn't worth the risk of getting your car stolen.

It's bad for your health. Car exhaust pathogens include carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, polycyclic hydrocarbons, benzene, and more. All of these things are as bad as they sound for your health. These toxins have negative effects on your entire body including cancer, cell degeneration, and bone marrow problems. Allowing your car to idle, especially in your garage, keeps all the fumes lingering around your home. Even if your garage door is open, many of the fumes are becoming trapped in your garage long enough for you to inhale too much of them into your body. If your garage is attached to your home, you're letting the fumes inside every time you open to the door to your house.

The cost of fuel, your personal and environmental health, thefts, and just be unnecessary are all great reasons not to warm up your car in the winter time. Being cold for the first couple minutes of your drive is worth you health and keeping your car from being stolen. If your curious, talk to professionals at places like Bionic Auto Parts for their opinion.